Car-coupling



(No Model.)

0. WJSMITH, GAR COUPLING.

No. 447,166. Patented Feb. 24,1891.

I- I /4/ I l Ff 5 I //A I v H a m 4 /0 q WITNESSES: v MHIEIVTORIATTORNEYS NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

CHAUNOEY XV. SMITH, OF BRUSH CREEK, IOWA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 447,165, datedFebruary 24, 1891.

Application filed August 15, 1890. Serial No. 362,058. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHAUNOEY WV. SMITH,

, of Brush Creek, in the county of Fayette and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Couplings, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact deseription.

My invention relates to an improvement in car-couplers, and has for itsobj ect to provide a means whereby a link-and-pin coupler is renderedautomatic in coupling and wherein an uncoupling may be effected from thetop or from the side of the car, and also to provide a means whereby theimproved coupler may be conveniently coupled with the old style oflink-coupler.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism capable ofoperation from the side of the car, whereby the link may be held inposition to couple with a draw-head having its link-opening at a greaterelevation.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth,

and pointed out in the claims. I

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of refer= enceindicate corresponding parts in all thev views. I

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the coupler, illustrated as applied toa freight-car; and Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through twoopposed couplers, represented in the act of coupling. t

The draw-head 10 is provided with the usual link-opening 11, the lowerwall of which opening at the front is preferably downwardly inclined andthe side walls beveled inward in the usual manner. \Vithinthel'ink-opening at itsbottom a sh aft12 is j ourn aled,which extendsthrough from side to side and terminatesat its extremities in crank-arms13. The said shaft at its central portion within the linkopening isprovided with an inwardly-extending preferably U-shaped crank-arm 14:,which arm is curved to conform to the bevel of the lower wallof saidopening, and in the said lower wall a channel or groove 15 is produced,of a contour and depth to receive the crank-arm 15, as is best shown inFig. 2. The object of the crank-shaft 12 is to provide a rear portion ofthe pin.

in its elevated position and the pin is carried 95 means for elevatingand guiding the link. When the central arm of the crank-shaft is in itsgrooove or channel, its upper face is flush with the bottom face of thelink-opening; but by manipulating the shaft through the medium of itsouter arms 13 the central crank-arm may be elevated to impart to thelink the necessary elevation for coupling with a similar opposeddraw-head orwith a drawhead of greater height.

. Upon the top of the draw-head, near the sill of the car to which it isattached, an offset 16 is produced, provided with a recess or cavity 17,extending through its front and upper surface some distance to the rear,the top of the recess or cavity 17 being covered by a hood 18, the underface of which at its 7 forward end is upwardly beveled, as illus- 7otrated at a in Fig. 2. Within the hood recess or cavity 17 the inner endof a lift-arm 19 is pivoted, the outer end of which arm is considerablyheavier than its inner end, and

the upward movement of the arm is limited by engagement with the bevelsurface a of the hood. In the bottom of the heavier end of the lift-arm19 an irregular recess 20 is created, and in one portion of the recessthe upper end of a coupling-pin 21 is pivoted. The

coupling-pin is adapted to pass downward within the draw-head through anopening 22 in its upper surface, and the lower end of the coupling-pin,when in the coupled position, is

seated in a cavity 23, formed in the base-wall of the link-opening. Thelower end of the coupling-pin is not entirely withdrawn from the upperpin-opening 22 when the lift-arm is at its greatest elevation, and thepin is held in engagement with the forward wall of the upper pin-openingat all times by a spring 24, located in one portion of the cavity 20 ofthe lift-arm and having a bearing against the Vhen the lift-arm isthereby to its greatest height, thelower end of the pin is forced by thespring 24 to a seat in a recess formed in the forward wall of the upperpin-aperture, as shown in Fig. 2. When the pin is so seated, the coupleris in position dle is adapted for engagement with the front face of thelower end of the pin, and the forward end of the needle extends somedistance beyond the front face of the draw-head. The unseating of thepin is accomplished by the draw-head of the opposed coupler coming inengagement with the outer end of theneedle, thereby causing its innerend to force the coupling-pin from its seat, and as the link is inposition within the draw-head and the outer end of the lift-arm is quiteheavy the said arm by gravity drops downward to an engagement with theupper face of the drawhead, and the coupling-pin is carried through thelink and seated in the lower cavity 23, as shown at the right in Fig. 2.lVhen the pin is in the coupled position shown in the abovenamed figure,the inner end of the needle preferably rests against the concave surfacein the front edge of the pin.

Vithin the link-opening a spring-buffer26 is held to slide, adapted tobe engaged by the entering link 27, which may be of any suitable form,and prevent the pin from being broken, bent, or otherwise injured as thedraw-heads approach. The forward end of the lift-arm is connected by alink 28, a chain, or their equivalents with suitable mechanism at thetop of the car, whereby the lift-arm may be carried upward to theuncoupling position from that point; or the lift-arm may be manipulatedfrom the sides of the car through the medium of the usual form ofshafting.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1. A car-coupling comprising a draw-head having link andpin openings, an offset 16, having a hood 18, beveled at a, the lift-arm19, pivoted in the ofiset and having a recess 20, the pin 21, pivoted atits upper end in said recess, the spring 24, and means for releasing thesaid pin when set for coupling, substautially as setforth.

2. A car-coupling comprising a draw-head having a channel 15 in thebottom of its linkopening, a pin-opening 22, a pin-supporting shoulderat the upper end of said opening, a spring-pressed buffer-block 26, theforward throw of which terminates in rear of the pinopening, the1ink-raiser12, having a cranked portion 14 resting in the channel 15,the liftarm 19, the pin 21, and spring 21L, substantially as set forth.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination, wita draw-head provided withpin-apertures, of a lift-arm pivoted at one end upon the drawhead, acoupling-pin pivoted atits upper end in the said arm, and abufling-needle held to slide longitudinally in the draw-head and adaptedfor engagement with the said pin,

substantiallyas shown and described, whereby the pin, when elevated, isunseated by the opposed draw-head striking the needle, as and for thepurpose set forth.

4. In a car-coupling, the combination, with a draw-head provided withpin-apertures and a recess in the forward wall of the said apertures, ofa lift-arm pivoted near one end over the upper face of the draw-head, aspringpressed coupling-pin pivoted near its upper end in thelift-arm andadapted, when raised, to be seated in the recess of the wall of theupper pin-aperture, and abuffing'needle held to slide longitudinally inthe draw head, one end of which needleprojects beyond the front face ofthe draw-head, while the other end extends within the said recess to anengagement with the coupling-pin, as and for the purpose set forth.

OIIAUNCEY \V. SMITH. WVitnesses:

JAMES IIv LITTLE, M. F. LITTLE.

